Monitoring change in families receiving primary mental health specialist services: a pragmatic evaluation within an existing service for the under-fives

Pollock, Jon; Horrocks, Sue

Abstract

Background: Specialist CAMHS-based services for pre-school age children are being introduced in the UK using different models of care. The clinical value of these new services requires assessment. Method:: Over 20 months a Primary Mental Health Specialist (Under 5s) service operating in South West UK was evaluated on a variety of themes including effectiveness. Recruited clients completed questionnaires on their own well-being (on two occasions) and their child's behaviour (on three occasions) over the intervention period. Results: Of the 67 carers assessed at or shortly after recruitment using the General Health Questionnaire, 55.2% were at high risk of having a clinically significant affective mental condition. Despite a trend towards improvement, neither the GHQ-12 total score nor the proportion meeting the clinical criterion was statistically significantly reduced. The main index of child behaviour and emotional state demonstrated a statistically significant reduction in the number of disturbance-indicating behaviours over the service intervention period. The largest changes occurred between recruitment and the 4th visit. Selection bias cannot be excluded. Conclusions: Significant changes determined over a relatively short period of intervention is consistent with an effect of service, but direct attribution demands care as no control groups were included. © 2009 Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health.

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Publication Date: May 1, 2010
• Journal: Child and Adolescent Mental Health
• Print ISSN: 1475-357X
• Electronic ISSN: 1475-3588
• Publisher: Wiley
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 15
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 120-124
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-3588.2009.00545.x
• Keywords: mental health services, pre-school, service evaluation, observational study
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/979508
• Publisher URL: http://eu.wiley.com